Breakaway (tear away, or strip off) sport pants are well known in the art. When athletes are sitting on the bench or otherwise temporarily not engaged in their physical activities, they need to keep their legs warm in order to avoid stresses and strains when they do resume athletic action. A problem exists however in that regular sport pants cannot be conveniently removed when the athlete is wearing large shoes, skates, or other large footwear. In such instances, the athlete would have to take off his shoes, remove his pants, and then put his shoes back on. Such a lengthy process would be unacceptable in rapid paced sports environments. To overcome this situation, athletes use breakaway pants which come completely apart at the sides from waist to ankle.
The traditional breakaway sport pants can be made with seven or eight buttons on the outer sides of the legs. These buttons go into large button holes that just barely hold the buttons to keep the legs together. When the player needs to go onto the field or court, he or she strips away the front half of the pants off of the buttons dropping the bottom half on the bench and floor. One problem with these button pants is that the buttons are often torn off in the process of tearing off the pants. Another version of breakaway sport pants utilizes conventional side zippers instead of buttons.